


A Modest Proposal

by Redrikki



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 03:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17675492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redrikki/pseuds/Redrikki
Summary: The mess with Vernon Masters has left Daniel's office short staffed, but he has some replacements in mind.





	A Modest Proposal

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lillianmmalter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillianmmalter/gifts).



Daniel closed his eyes and leaned back against the car as he waited for Thompson and Peggy to finish committing Whitney Frost to the nuthouse. For once, he was glad to let Thompson take charge. He’d landed hard when the rift generator shut off and his whole body felt like one giant bruise. He needed ice, a stiff drink, and about a week’s worth of sleep, preferably in that order. The way things were going, he might be able to swing the first two, but the last one would be a long time coming. Yeah, they’d caught Frost and stopped the world from ending, but now they a small mountain of paperwork to fill out, an escaped Russian spy to catch, and a shady men’s club to investigate. Daniel wasn’t looking forward to doing it with just Rose and that twerp Samberly to count on. 

A horn honked down the street but Daniel was too tired just thinking about everything on his plate to pay attention to it. It honked again, closer this time. “Excuse me, Chief Sousa!” Jarvis called as he drove past and pulled up just ahead of him. 

What the heck was he even doing here? Peggy and Thompson had been inside dealing with Frost for nearly an hour, but Stark and Wilkes were still sitting in Jarvis’s back seat. Coming back to pick up Peggy was one thing, but shouldn’t he have taken them home by now? Daniel heaved himself upright with a groan and ambled over. 

“What’s up?”

“Do you know how much longer this is going to take?” Jarvis asked, leaning out the open window. “Mr. Stark is quite anxious to collect Miss Carter and head home.”

“It’s late, I’m hungry, and Jarvis hasn’t even started making me dinner,” Stark chimed in from the backseat. Next to him, Wilkes squeezed his eyes shut as if pained by the whine in Stark’s tone.

Daniel bit his tongue to keep from saying the first thing that popped into his head. Stark had actually been useful this time around, but right now, he could take his dinner and his impatience and drive them straight to hell as far as Daniel was concerned. 

“No idea,” he said, failing to conceal his annoyance. “Could be minutes. Could be hours. Just go home,” he added, and walked away.

“Chief Sousa!” Jarvis scrambled out of the car behind him. “Are you feeling quite right?” he asked, looking him over with some concern. “You seem—” he paused “—out of sorts.”

Out of sorts. That sure was a generous way to describe acting like a jerk. Daniel winced. “Sorry.” Jarvis didn’t deserve the attitude and, if he was being completely honest, neither did Stark. Not right now anyway. He rubbed tiredly at his forehead. “It’s been a long week.”

“It most certainly has.” Jervis accepted his apology with a tight, British smile. “I must say, that was incredibly brave of you, attempting to shut down the rift generator like you did.”

Yeah, real brave for all the good it did. Not only had he managed not to finish the job, trying to rescue him had very nearly gotten their whole little gang killed. Not exactly the stuff that earned medals. 

“It was _your_ quick thinking with that hover car that saved the day.”

Jarvis’s ears burned a dull red. “Yes, well, I should have hated to explain to Ana how we inadvertently destroyed the world,” he demurred with the sort of droll British modesty Daniel had come to expect. 

“That would have been a fun conversation,” Daniel chuckled. “Seriously, Jarvis, your help has been invaluable these past few weeks,” he said, clapping his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “I want you to know how much the SSR appreciates your assistance.”

“You are quite welcome,” Jarvis said, his ears burning brighter. “I’ve always considered myself a full service butler.” 

He certainly was. The man could drive, fly, shoot, and more or less keep his cool while disarming a nuclear bomb. He’d been assisting Stark in the lab long enough to be a fair hand with the science stuff and could clearly think on his feet. He was wasted on catering to Stark’s every stupid, self-indulgent whim and he had to know that, no matter what favors Stark had done for him in the past. 

“You know, you’re not half bad at this secret agent stuff,” Daniel told him. “You’d make a good one.”

There was no one he’d rather have at his side than Peggy, but he’d hire Jarvis in a hot second if there was even a chance he’d go for it. Jarvis didn’t have the investigative background most of the SSR guys did, but Daniel would take him over a Vega or Blackwell any day. You could train for skills, not for loyalty. 

“Why, Chief Sousa,” Jarvis said with a coquettish half-smile, “if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were offering me a job.”

“That’s because I am.” That hadn’t been the plan when he’d started this conversation, but, since Jarvis had brought up the idea, it seemed like a good one. If Daniel couldn’t have the Brit he wanted, he’d be more than happy to settle for Jarvis. “What do you say? Interested?” 

“I—I” Jarvis sputtered. His opened and closed his mouth as he struggled to find his words. “I’m very flattered,” he finally managed, “but Ana—that is to say—Mr. Stark—I couldn’t possibly just—”

“Mr. Jarvis?” 

Peggy’s voice both sent them whirling to face her as she emerged from the hospital and headed their way. 

“What on earth are you still doing here?”

“Waiting for you,” Jarvis said, looking almost pathetically grateful for the interruption. 

Daniel’s shoulders slumped. So much for maybe getting a new agent. Somehow in the last few months, they’d all become a real team. Now he was losing them both. 

Peggy frowned as she looked back and forth between them. Daniel could practically see the gears churning behind her eyes as she tried to puzzle the situation out before she dismissed it all with a quick shake of her head. 

“I appreciate you waiting, but there’s still a bit more to be done back at the office. Why don’t you head off? Daniel can drive me home.”

“Very well, Miss Carter,” Jarvis said and headed towards his car.

“No rush on my offer,” Daniel called after him. It was probably a lost cause at this point, but he never had learned when to quit. “Think it over and let me know.”

Jarvis flashed him a strained smile before slipping behind the wheel and starting the engine.

“Did you just try to poach Mr. Jarvis from Howard Stark?” Peggy asked as he peeled away. Her face twitched with suppressed laughter. 

“Yeah, I offered him a job,” Daniel said, struggling not to sound defensive. “We’ve got our work cut out for us and, thanks to this mess with Vernon Masters, I don’t have a whole lot of guys I can trust at the office.” 

Peggy cleared her throat and pulled her expression back together. “As a matter of fact, Jack and I were just discussing your staffing situation.”

“Oh yeah? And what did our fearless leader have to say?” He couldn’t actually blame Thompson for the mess at the office. Those guys had probably been in Vernon’s pocket long before Thompson had stuck his nose in, but Daniel still reserved the right to be to be mad about it.

“The Isodyne case may be over, but there’s still the Arena Club and Dottie Underwood to consider.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Daniel groaned. Finding Underwood was going to be bad enough, but getting to the bottom of whatever was up with the Arena Club was going to be a constant guessing game of wondering who he could trust. He’d be grey by the time he was thirty, assuming he didn’t just end up in a shallow grave in the desert somewhere.

“You’re going to need an experienced agent you can trusts. One familiar with the particular with the details of the case.” Peggy’s serious tone was marred by the impish twitching of her lips. “Luckily, Jack has agreed to second you his best agent indefinitely.”

Daniel looked at her sharply, his heart leaping in his chest. “You’re staying?” he asked, his voice trembling with excitement.

“For as long as you’ll have me.”

“It may be awhile,” Daniel said, unable to keep what was probably a dopey grin off his face. Peggy was staying. Here. With him. Indefinitely. He half-hoped they never found Dottie Underwood. 

“I think I can live with that,” Peggy said with an answering smile and Daniel stopped caring if Jarvis ever got back to him.


End file.
